Lifestyles Of The Rich And YouTube-Famous

Real estate agents who are looking for new clients would do well to follow the YouTube money.

Case in point: CaptainSparklez recently picked up a flashy little $4.5 million house above Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Sparklez, a.k.a. Jordan Moran, is a 23-year-old Minecraft YouTube “personality,” who boasts nearly 9 million followers and whose videos have amassed almost 1.9 billion views. By one estimate, his potential earnings off his 2,655 videos could reach nearly $5 million, and that excludes outside income sources such as speaking fees, sponsorships, and so on.

While Moran’s real estate purchase made headlines, he’s hardly the first YouTube-made millionaire to use his earnings to upgrade his digs. Jenna Mourey (a.k.a. Jenna Marbles), another name that might not mean much to the above-40 crowd, is a former bartender/go-go dancer/blogger who went from renting an $800 bedroom in a three-bedroom house in Cambridge, Mass., to renting a $1 million townhouse in Santa Monica, Calif., thanks to her YouTube profits. The house was described by the New York Times as having a “contemporary teenage mess” vibe. By most estimates, her income is well into the six figures, and possibly as high as several million dollars.

Can’t complain: Jenna Mourey (a.k.a. Jenna Marbles) went from renting an $800 bedroom in a Cambridge, Mass. house to renting a million-dollar town home in Santa Monica using earnings from.videos like these.

Similarly, Zoe Sugg (a.k.a. Zoella), a 25-year-old British fashion and beauty YouTuber, splurged on a $1.5 million (£1 million) home in February; the gated property reportedly has five bedrooms, a separate log cabin and private gardens. It may seem an extravagant purchase for a twenty something, but Sugg can certainly afford it: In addition to earning income on ads from her YouTube videos, she also reportedly commands up to $31,000 (£20,000 a month) from sponsors. The main problem with the new house and her new(ish) celebrity? The aggressive fans that constantly ring her doorbell.

Even second-tier YouTube stars, such as Pickleboy (Michael Green), seem to be making out like bandits. Green, who has a relatively modest follower base that falls just shy of 1 million, had been living in a trailer, but used his YouTube money to surprise his father (a.k.a. Angry Grandpa) with a new house. The tearful exchange was captured on video, and as of this writing, it had been viewed 7.8 million times.

Of course, for most successful YouTubers, a house is more than just a place to hang a hat. It also provides a backdrop for their videos, and the nicer the house, the better the videos look.